


What's In A Tradition?

by Cyberfairie



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Adoribull - Freeform, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-09-22
Packaged: 2018-04-22 22:26:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4852859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyberfairie/pseuds/Cyberfairie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a fill for a prompt that got away from me.  The original prompt was: Dorian wants to give Iron Bull a dragon-tooth necklace. Problem is that Bull is going to give him the same thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What's In A Tradition?

“Is there a right and a wrong way to do this?”

Bull actually stopped, his hands buried knuckle deep in dragon flesh, just to stare at the Boss.  Had she really just asked that?  Varric’s laughter echoing behind them said she had and as he watched the Boss’s cheeks turned bright red.

“What?  I’m an elf.  Not like we encounter a lot of high dragons in the middle of the forest.  And if we did we sure as fuck wouldn’t start poking at them and pulling teeth.  It’s a reasonable…damn it, stop laughing,” the Boss grumbled, stomping her foot and splattering dragon blood up her leggings.

“Sorry Boss,” Bull chuckled, turning away from her so he could attempt to gain some semblance of seriousness before continuing.  “And no, just pick one you like and start cutting.”

“If you were a gentleman you’d cut it out for me,” Ellana taunted, trying a new tactic, as if Bull didn’t know she was ten times more handy with a dagger than he was. 

“Nice try Boss.  Just keep the pointy end pointed away from you, you’ll be fine,” Bull countered, swearing a moment later when the tooth he’d been working at suddenly tore free.  Fuck, but it was a beautiful thing, as big as his hand and smooth as polished stone.  He couldn’t wait to get it to…

“Shit!”

Bull turned just in time to see the Boss go stumbling backwards, her own tooth clutched tightly in both hands as she ended up on her ass in another blood puddle.  Bull tried not to laugh, really he did, but he just couldn’t help it and ended up getting splashed with rapidly cooling blood in retaliation.  He wasn’t certain, but as he laughed and helped the petite rogue stand up he could have sworn he heard her mumble ‘he owes me one’.

 

 

“I’m serious.  You owe me one Dorian.  I had to throw out my leathers.  The ones I’ve had forever and were broken in and…”

“Yes, yes.  I know, they had that delightful hole in the knee.”

“They were my lucky leathers…stop laughing at me,” Ellana scowled, her bare foot stomping down quite unimpressively against the stone tiles.

Of course Dorian put a suitably _impressed_ look on his face and played his trump card.  “I may have kept some of the dragon scales from when we took down Vinsomer.  I’m sure Bonnie could…”

Dorian broke off as he found himself suddenly possessed of two very large armfuls of elf, Ellana hugging him tightly as she babbled, “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you.  I’ve been wanting some white leathers but I used my last share of the scales for a new quiver for Sera and then this time I didn’t think to grab any because of the blood that was…well, everywhere…and did I tell you…”

By the time Dorian left Ellana’s quarters, the dragon tooth he’d sent her for firmly wrapped in an old tunic, Dorian had heard every second of their fight with the Northern Hunter.  Which was a rather ironic name considering it was found in Crestwood, which could be considered north only if ones entire existence had been spent in Ferelden.  Not of course that he had said as much to Ellana as he had high hopes of actually reaching the Undercroft today before Dagna disappeared for the evening.

Fuck.  Dorian found himself having to let his foot catch the weight of the door back into the great hall when the tooth started slipping free of its tunic case and it took both hands to keep it from smashing to the floor.  Sighing heavily at the weight of the thing Dorian found himself hoping that the whole half a tooth thing was just symbolic because the entire tooth must weigh almost as much as one of Leliana’s nugs. 

Straightening, Dorian slipped his elbow in to open the door further only to freeze as he saw Bull across the hall, his huge frame dwarfing the entrance to the Undercroft as he spoke with someone inside, his hand rubbing restlessly against the pink hand axe at his hip.  Pink?  Really?  How had he never noticed?  Dorian muttered under his breath as he let the door slip almost shut, only barely avoiding tapping his foot as he waited for Bull to wrap up his conversation and head back to the tavern. 

Or better yet, to the training ring with Krem which was where he was supposed to be today.  That was the reason Dorian had picked today to handle the tooth situation even though Ellana’s party had returned to the keep almost a week ago.  Of course, he hadn’t planned on getting caught up listening to just how much pressure it had taken to tear the tooth free. 

Dorian shuddered, there were just some things it was better not to know.  Deciding he’d waited long enough for Bull to realize he’d forgotten something and return Dorian slipped out the door and hurried across the hall before anyone got curious as to why he was carrying laundry with him.  Letting loose a sigh of relief when the Undercroft door shut behind him Dorian was surprised to be met by silence.  Usually by now Dagna would be halfway across the croft, a cheerful greeting on her lips, but today Dorian started forward and found her hunched over her worktable, intently focused on whatever she was working on.

Waving Harritt off, a small smirk formed on Dorian’s lips as he quietly moved behind Dagna, eventually peeking over her shoulder and asking loudly, “Whatever are you working on?”

“Oh Dorian… _Oh_ …Oh,” Dagna mutters, reaching for a cloth as she continues, “it’s nothing, really…just…”

A familiar stretch of ivory wrapped in silverite taunted Dorian before it was quickly covered by a pale blue piece of fabric.  “Is that a dragon tooth?”

“What?  Oh, this?  Yes, uhm,” Dagna broke off again with a soft sigh that had Dorian chuckling.  The Arcanist was frequently wordy but he’d never before seen her so flustered.  It would be endearing if he hadn’t just spent half the day listening to Ellana waxing poetically about dragon blood.

Drawing in a deep breath Dagna began again, “It’s just that this is a piece for a friend of mine.  A Qunari mage I met when I was in the Circle, she’s getting married and I wanted to send her a gift.”

Dorian frowned.  What were the odds?  Although at least this meant that Dagna would know what he was looking for, he’d been prepared to have to explain the Qunari custom in great detail.  And even then he wasn’t sure he’d get it right, it wasn’t as if he could just ask _Bull_ for details and Dorian didn’t know any other Qunari.  “Do you mind if I look at it?”

“Oh, you don’t want to do that.  It’s not finished yet and…”

“I promise not to judge,” Dorian pledged, slipping up next to Dagna and letting the tooth he had been carrying drop onto the table.  “It’s just that I brought this to you hoping that you could make pendants out of it for Bull and I and honestly I can’t see how it works.”

“You brought me a dragon tooth to carve for you and Bull?” Dagna choked out, a slight blush rising on her cheeks as she looked at the tunic wrapped tooth on her table as if it would bite her.

Her incredulity soon had a matching flush rising on Dorian’s cheeks.  Fasta vass, but he should have known this was a stupid idea.  Stupid and romantic and absolutely unbecoming to whatever this was that he and Bull shared.  Reaching for the tooth he found himself growling, “Nevermind.  It was an ill-thought out plan.”

Dagna’s hand shot out faster than it had a right to, slapping his own away when he would have removed the tooth.  “No!  I’m just surprised.  I mean, that’s sweet.  Err,that is, I’m sure I can make something you and Bull will both like.  I was just surprised is all.  Not every day I get the chance to work with dragon’s teeth and then here we are, twice in one day.”

“So can I see the piece you’re working on?”

“I suppose it will be alright,” Dagna hesitantly admitted, pulling the cloth away from the pieces before her and leaving Dorian gasping as he caught his first look at the pair of necklaces. 

Dorian was relieved to see that Dagna did, indeed, cut the tooth down before splitting it, but rather than simply strike the tooth through the middle Dagna had cut half way through the tip of the tooth then peeled away a portion so that the larger pendant retained the shape of the tooth and the smaller one only that of the tip.  Laid one on top of the other the tooth was once again whole, like a puzzle that fit only one way.

Dorian noted that the larger pendant was capped in dawnstone, a raised pair of serpents twisted around each other along the edge of the cap.  Dorian found himself unable to resist reaching for the smaller pendant, itself only about half the width of his hand and capped with the same pair of serpents, but this time the entire piece was in silverite.  “They are absolutely stunning,” Dorian whispered reverently, the pendant in his hand warming slightly as it lay against his skin. 

He was suddenly struck by the sensation that _these_ were the pendants meant for he and Bull and he couldn’t seem to keep himself from asking, “I don’t suppose you would consider letting me have this pair.”

Kaffas, but that was beyond forward.  Dagna had already told him they were a gift, and yet the thought of having to surrender the piece in his hand was absolutely abhorrent.  He could tell he had shocked the Arcanist, her mouth moving but no sound coming out as she looked from the necklace in his palm to his face and back again.

“This pair,” she finally squeaked.  “You want this pair?”

Dorian felt his cheeks flush again but he was determined.  “I can’t explain it, I simply must have this set.”

“I don’t think…”

Dorian pulled out his trump card.  “Please…”

 

 

“What do you mean you lost them?  They were almost finished yesterday.”

Dagna practically wilted before his eyes even though Bull had taken care to ask the question as gently as he knew how to.  After all, it wasn’t like they were talking about iron here, it was a dragon tooth, how do you lose something like that?  And the Boss trusted this woman to work with red lyrium.

“Well, you see.  I didn’t exactly lose them as much as accidently put them on top of a box I was having shipped to Val Royeaux, and the courier thought they were supposed to be in it.  They should be back in a week or I managed to get a hold of another tooth, I can make you a new set right away if you’d rather…”

Bull frowned.  Something here wasn’t adding up.  “You just happened to acquire a second dragon tooth.”

“Eh, I get things sometimes,” Dagna shrugged, the smile on her face not doing anything to reassure Bull that what she was saying was the truth.  But what option did he have?  He and Dorian had already made plans to have dinner tomorrow night and he was determined to see Dorian wearing his token before they left for the Arbor Wilds.

Sighing heavily Bull acquiesced.  “I’m certain the new tooth will be fine.”

“Wonderful, I’ll have them ready for you by tomorrow morning,” Dagna chirped, her attention already drifting from him back to her worktable and Bull took it as the dismissal it was meant to be.

 

 

The next night Dorian was pacing his room, his attention darting from the table with its covered plates just waiting for Bull’s arrival and the top drawer of his dresser where he had tucked the pair of necklaces into a scrap of silk.  Now that the moment had finally arrived Dorian couldn’t help second guessing his decision.  What if Bull hated them?  Not the tooth itself, Bull was certain to love anything having to do with dragons, but now that he was Tal-Vashoth was Dorian just calling attention to that by trying to follow a Qunari tradition?  Perhaps it would have been better to just have rings made.  But that just screamed Tevinter and traditional and those were two things that didn’t apply to Bull in the slightest.

Kaffas, he didn’t want Bull to think that he was trying to edge him into commitment, he’d just wanted to do something nice, something that said that Bull mattered to him.  But perhaps it would be better to wait…

 

Bull paced back and forth in the hallway outside Dorian’s room, taking great care that his horns didn’t scrape against the walls when he turned to stalk back the other direction.  The pair of necklaces he’d picked up from Dagna earlier were securely tucked into a pocket and his fingers traced the outline of them as he tried to convince himself he was being ridiculous.  So he wanted to present Dorian with a token.  It wasn’t as if he was asking the man to settle down into domestic bliss with him, it was just a necklace.

Which did nothing to explain why Bull felt his heart beat faster at the thought of Dorian looking at the pair of pendants with that blank look the ‘Vint still pasted on whenever he got uncomfortable.  Fuck, Bull could take him laughing more than he could take that look.  It was a stupid idea anyway.  Maybe he should just…

No, _this_ was stupid. He had hunted a dragon, torn out the tooth with his own hands, designed the pendants with Dagna and waited while the damned woman made not one but two sets.  He was giving Dorian the damned tooth.  With a growl Bull stormed back to Dorian’s door and pounded his fist on it twice. 

 

Dorian jumped when Bull just about pounded his door off its hinges.  And there was no doubt in his mind that it was Bull, even before he opened the door.  Taking a deep breath Dorian smoothed down his robes and opened the door to find Bull standing on the other side, his chest heaving as though he’d just run the entire way from his own room.  “Are you alright Amatus?”

“Fine,” Bull grumbled, striding into the room and barely letting the door shut behind them before he reached into his pocket and thrust something at Dorian.  “Here, I got you something.”

Dorian’s mind was still processing the thought that those horrendous pants of Bull’s actually contained pockets when Bull opened his hand to show Dorian his gift and for once in his life the mage was struck silent.  On that huge silver palm rested an identical pair of necklaces to the ones tucked into his top drawer. 

Suddenly Dagna’s reticence days earlier made more sense.  Old Circle friend his ass, it had been Bull who had had the pair of necklaces made.  Which explained the size and the serpents and, Maker help him, even the fact that the larger chain was forged in dawnstone.  Kaffas, and he had basically stolen his own gift…

“You hate them.”  Bull’s voice was duller than Dorian had ever heard it and he found his eyes flying up to take in his lover’s face, that one silver eye now hooded and Dorian struggled to explain.

“No, it’s not that Amatus…”

“Don’t lie, I know that look you’re wearing,” Bull sighed.  “It was a stupid idea…”

“No, no really Amatus,” Dorian swore, his words offset by the small laugh that chose that moment to burst from his lips. 

With a scowl Bull pulled his hand away, ignoring Dorian’s attempt to reach for the necklaces as he slipped them back into his pocket.  “Just forget I…”

It was Dorian’s turn to scowl.  This moment was definitely not going how he had envisioned it going.  With a desperate grab for Bull’s free hand he tugged the reluctant warrior over to his dresser, turning to shove Bull down onto the bed at the last moment.

“I’m not sure I’m in the mood Dorian.”

“Fasta vass, just sit there for a moment,” Dorian growled, turning away to dig his own set of necklaces out of the dresser.  Turning back to Bull with the silk wrapped package in his hand he smiled as he sat next to his lover on the bed and dropped the package into Bull’s lap.  “It just so happens I had a gift for you also Amatus.”

Bull frowned but pulled back the silk, his own expression freezing for a moment as he caught sight of the necklaces that should be very familiar to him.  In a second his gaze flew up to Dorian’s face then back to the pair of necklaces draped across his lap.  “She told me she sent them to Val Royeaux by mistake.”

“I may have insisted she let me have the pair she was working on.  She said they were for a friend…a female friend mind you.”

“And you didn’t think it odd that there were serpents on the cap?”

Dorian shrugged.  “A friend with very good taste.”

Bull fingered the edge of the dragon tooth, wrapping both necklaces tightly in his hand before separating the smaller one and raising it to unhook the clasp.  “So you _do_ like them?”

Dorian’s hand came up to still Bull’s, his fingers tightening around his lover’s as he whispered, “I thought they were so amazing I simply couldn’t allow Dagna to give them to anyone else.”

“Kadan,” Bull whispered, his expression softening as the importance of the moment actually hit him.  Dorian, his prickly Dorian, the man who still fretted about holding Bull’s hand in public had actually gone and had a set of dragon tooth necklaces made for them.

Dorian shifted, resting his hand against Bull’s cheek for a moment, everything that went unsaid between them being spoken without words until finally, Dorian shifted his gaze and looked down at the necklaces.  “Now, are you going to put this on me or shall we just stare at them all night?”

“As you wish, Kadan,” Bull chuckled.

 

If there was moisture in his eye when he clasped the chain around Dorian’s neck neither of them mentioned it, nor did they mention the sniffling Dorian did as he clasped the chain around Bull’s neck.  


End file.
